Can Medications Affect Life Insurance Ratings?

When you apply for life insurance coverage, the company is going to look at dozens of different factors to decide how much they are going to charge you for your insurance plan. The company is going to review your overall health and any medications that you’re taking. Life insurance is one of the most important investments that you’ll ever make, and it’s important that you have the coverage that your family needs and your health shouldn’t keep you from getting it.

It isn’t uncommon for us to encounter someone who claims to be in excellent health, despite the fact they are on a short or long list of medications. While the person feels great now, without the medications, they may not be so well off.

Our society is heavily dependent on many different kinds of medications for many different things, and sometimes the client is right: they have nothing to worry about.

Unsure whether or not your particular medication is a red flag? Keep reading below or contact us directly so we can assist you further.

Life Insurance While On Medication

Have you ever seen one of those commercials where a couple is strolling along a beach or making dinner together, and only the first few seconds of the commercial even says what its for? The rest of the commercial is a giant, long-form list of side affects from the advertised medication which is now required.

The couple sure seems happy, right?

As prescriptions become as regular as eggs and bread in the home, consumers nationwide are being led to believe it’s okay, if not normal, to be on a medication. While some do very little and really do help someone through a troubling health issue, others can be very stiff drugs which impact underwriting for life insurance.

Perhaps the most common of all medications we come across when we’re evaluating a new client is something for high blood pressure. While high blood pressure can have affects on life insurance, a controlled blood pressure, even if by use of medication and not just diet and exercise, can have very small or even no impact on rates.

However, medications for things like arthritis, ADHD, diabetes, depression, or hypothyroidism have much more strict underwriting guidelines.

Meds With Stricter Underwriting

There are certain kinds of medications which have attributes making them raise red flags almost every time. While we can never list them all, we can discuss a few kinds which have a high possibility of doing so.

Steroids, for example, will often make an underwriter ask more questions, at minimum. Especially when paired with certain health conditions, steroids, when used over long periods of time, can do some damage to vital organs in the body. They can also create a dependency where the user would need to ween themselves down if started in higher doses.

It can be a complete non-issue, like when used for a day or two to fight a troublesome rash where they have little to no impact on life insurance buying, but they can have very adverse affects as well, sometimes delaying the ability to get approved for life insurance, at least temporarily.

Drugs used to treat things like depression, anxiety, and focus can also be looked at very differently, even if there was only one triggering event. If a person continues to use these over a long period of time, it tends to show there is a long-term need for them. A shorter time frame of use with a smaller dosage is more likely to show it was a one-off catalyst. Along with worrying about certain drug usage affecting your capability of finding coverage, some things listed on your medical history such as applying for life insurance with suicidal thoughts or attempts in your history can classify you as a high risk candidate.

Declines For Specific Kinds

Yes, there are certain medications which most or all carriers will decline because of use. These tend to be the kind which treat end-stage diseases or symptoms of progressive diseases.

Morphine, for example, would be a drug which can be very hard to secure an approval with when used for more than a very short period of time. Because it is used for heavy pain treatments, there is usually a strong health issue currently taking place, and a current, uncontrolled issue makes insurance companies weary.

The major thing here to understand is the reason why you’re taking the drug. While you might thing you feel fine now, the carriers have to evaluate the long term risks. Even if you have controlled diabetes with a small dose of medication and you’re otherwise perfect, you still can’t expect top tier rates like someone who isn’t taking that same prescription.

Getting Cheaper Life Insurance

Because of your medications, you’re going to be facing higher monthly rates, but that doesn’t mean that you have to pay a fortune every month for your insurance coverage. There are several ways that you can trim down your premiums and keep more money in your pockets.

The first thing that you should do is cut out any tobacco that you currently use. If you’re listed as a smoker, then you should prepare to pay much higher rates for your plan. Smokers are going to pay at least twice as much versus a policyholder that doesn’t smoke. With some companies, you’ll pay as much as three times as much. If you want to save thousands of dollars, then you’ll need to kick the bad habit once and for all. Not only is smoking bad for your health, but it’s also bad for your wallet.

The next thing that you should do is improve your overall health. Before the insurance company gives you life insurance, they are going to require that you take a medical exam. The results of that exam are going to impact how much you pay every month. If you want to save money, the best way that you can do that is by improving your health through diet and exercise. Both of these are going to help you lose weight, lower your cholesterol, and reduce your risks of being diagnosed with any other health complications. You don’t have to be a professional marathon running to save money on your insurance coverage. Getting regular exercise can make a huge improvement on your health as well as your bank account.

Working with an Independent Insurance Agent

One of the best ways to ensure that you’re getting the best insurance rates is to compare dozens and dozens of plans before you decide which policy is going to work best for you. Every insurance company is different, and all of them have different medical underwriting or rating systems, which means that you’re going to get drastically different rates depending on which company that you get the quote from.

Instead of wasting hours and hours calling different companies, let one of our independent insurance brokers do all of the hard work for you. Unlike a traditional insurance agent, our independent brokers work with dozens and dozens of highly rated companies across the nation, which means that we can bring all of the best insurance plans directly to you.

When you’re shopping for life insurance, they are going to review your health and any medications that you take. Those prescriptions are going to play a major role in how much you pay for your insurance coverage. We know that it can be difficult to get affordable life insurance protection, but that’s why we are here to help. It’s our mission to ensure that you’re getting the best rates, regardless of which medications that you use.

You never know what’s going to happen tomorrow, which means that you shouldn’t wait any longer to get the insurance protection that your family needs. If something tragic were to happen to you, your family would be left with a massive amount of debt and other final expenses. Losing someone that you love will never be easy, but being responsible for thousands and thousands of dollars of debt is going to make the situation that much worse.

If you have any questions about life insurance of how your prescriptions are going to impact your rates, please contact one of our qualified agents today. We would be happy to answer those questions and connect you with the best plan possible.

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